The Church is once again embroiled in a sexual abuse crisis which seemingly never goes away. Multiple recent events have combined to make it appear that a recalcitrant Catholic Church has still not gotten the message. The Pennsylvania grand jury report gives the impression that child sexual abuse in the U. S. Catholic Church is still in full swing and that the Church’s response has been inadequate at best. [1] Grand juries in other states are reportedly conducting investigations as well. [2] Following CardinalMcCarrick’s resignation in July, [3] the letter of Archbishop Vigano amplified and expanded the controversy, by making detailed allegations that the hierarchy including the Pope protected McCarrick, and by asserting that there are homosexual networks of clergy within the Church which are actively attempting to undermine the Church’s doctrine and teaching. [4] Adding fuel to the fire is the recent resignation of Bishop Bransfield of West Virginia and the Pope’s authorization of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations by that bishop. [5] On September 19th, the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced new initiatives taken to address sexual abuse by bishops.[6] All of this has become mixed into one big swirling pot of trouble, with the Pope initially refusing to respond to questions about the Vigano letter, [7] but later deciding to hold a meeting in February with the presidents of the worldwide bishops conferences to discuss sex abuse prevention. [8] On October 6th, the Pope ordered a new study “of all the documentation contained in the Vatican archives in order to ‘ascertain all therelevant facts’ surrounding the ex-cardinal.” [9] On October 12th, the Pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Wuerl, named by Archbishop Vigano as participating in the cover-up of abuse by bishops and by the Pennsylvania grand jury report for the same. [10]
Continue reading “The Pope’s meeting in February 2019 should focus on the Archbishop Vigano allegations and not on child sexual abuse”